


Batgirl No More

by StephCassShipper



Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Cassandra Cain is Black Bat, Crying, F/F, F/M, Funerals, Kite Man and Stephanie Brown are related, Nell Little is Spoiler, Stephanie Brown is Batgirl, or was
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:46:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,170
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25656130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StephCassShipper/pseuds/StephCassShipper
Summary: Once, Cass would have done anything to be Batgirl again. Now, she'd do anything not to be.
Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Charles "Chuck" Brown, Cassandra Cain & Nell Little, Past Dick Grayson/Koriand'r - Relationship, Stephanie Brown/Cassandra Cain
Comments: 2
Kudos: 37





	Batgirl No More

Cassandra feels numb.

That's not entirely accurate. She definitely feels numb, but she also feels a myriad of other emotions. Anger. Regret. Pain. But what she feels most of all isn't an emotion.

What she feels above all else is déjà vu.

Because it happened again. Stephanie Agnes Brown was once again dead at the hands of Black Mask. But this time, there was no coming back for her.

The funeral ends and Cass slowly walks away, going nowhere in particular. She doesn't want to look at the grave again. She  _ can't  _ look at the grave again.

"Are you alright?" asks a voice behind Cass. She slowly turns around to see Crystal Brown, her face stained with tears. It's about then that Cass's own tears finally begin to surface and she collapses into Crystal's arms.

* * *

Cassandra tries everything. Every trick to see if Stephanie is somehow still alive, just like last time.

But she isn't. Bruce and the others have already done their own tests. Fingerprints, DNA analysis, everything. But the body in the grave is her.

Cassandra cries herself to sleep.

* * *

Within five days, Black Mask is dead. Jason Todd hunted him down like a dog and threw his decapitated head to the footsteps of the GCPD.

No one stopped him from leaving.

* * *

Cassandra has made a full return to Gotham as Black Bat. She doesn't know if she can stomach the idea of being Batgirl anymore.

Gotham doesn't respect her wishes, however. The criminal underground and police alike all call her Batgirl. She shakes with rage every time somebody utters the words, but she does nothing to stop it because there's no point.

* * *

There's a knock on Wayne Manor and Alfred opens up the door, quick as ever. Standing in the doorway is a young black girl, about 12. Cassandra stands next to Alfred, already near the door and on her way out.

"Hello, Mr. Pennyworth!" she greets with a smile.

"Miss Little. A pleasure as always."

"Is Stephanie here? It's Thursday and we always study on Thursdays."

"Stephanie is gone," Cass says a little bit too bitter. The girl's smile falters.

"Oh." A pause. "Will she be back?"

"She's not coming back." Cass storms off, barely hearing - not wanting to hear - Alfred clarify what happened to Stephanie.

* * *

"Look out! It's Batgirl!" a Two Face goon cries out in genuine fear. Cass grimaces and takes him down, perhaps a bit too hard.

* * *

A flash of purple catches Cass's eye while she's out on patrol and she thinks her mind is playing tricks on her. She looks to where it came from and…

Nothing. Cass's frown deepens and she grapples elsewhere.

* * *

"You holding up ok?" Dick asks her one day.

"No," Cass answers simply. It's not a lie.

"Do you think you will be ok?" She shakes her head no. "Alright. Just know that you have people you can talk to, ok?" Cass nods her head and leaves the room.

* * *

The purple returns and this time Cass follows it. She knows it's not a trick this time, it couldn't be a trick. The purple disappears around a corner and she chases until she can't any longer. And when she finally catches up, Cass's eyes light up.

But they just as quickly die down.

She sees Spoiler fighting some robbers. But she doesn't see Stephanie Brown.

The girl is shorter, for one. She looks like she's not even a teen yet. And her fighting style looks like a mockery of Stephanie's, like she's trying to emulate it, but doesn't know how to properly. And she's quickly losing her battle. She seemed to be handling herself well at first, but now she was huddled on the ground, trying to protect her ribs from her attacker's kicks.

Cass swoops in and kicks the assailant in the face. He goes down with a crunch and a squirt of blood.

"You're going down, Batgirl," the man snarls as he wipes blood from his mouth and picks himself up off the ground. Cass growls under her breath and makes a beeline for him, elbowing him in the chest hard enough to crack rib.

The fight barely lasts 10 seconds. By the end of it, the man is unconscious and his arm is broken. Cassandra turns to Spoiler, a newfound fury in her eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?" she demands. The girl flinches. Cass can tell that she's not in any real pain, thank God.

"I- I just want-wanted to help."

"Get out before you get killed."

"B-but I know how to fight."

"No. You don't." Cass gestures towards the man she stopped. "I did that. Not you."

"But I do! I do know how to fight! Batgirl trained me!" Cassandra freezes.

"What?"

"The- the last Batgirl trained. The blonde one. I was her biggest fan and she was training me how to fight." Cass's glare intensified. "I'm- I'm sorry. I'll go."

"No!" Cass calls out a little too quickly. "Don't go." Spoiler stops and looks at Cass. "I- knew her. Batgirl, I mean."

"What… happened to Batgirl." Cass felt tears crawl down her face.

"She died."

"But… she'll be back, right? She's come back before. When's she coming back?"

"I'm sorry. But Batgirl is gone. And she isn't coming back this time."

"Oh." Spoiler's shoulders slump.

"Come with me," Cass commands. "If she was helping you… I can help you too." The girl nods and follows Cass.

* * *

Cass finds out that Spoiler was really Nell Little, the girl who was at Wayne Manor that day. And Nell finds out that  ~~ Batgirl ~~ Black Bat is really Cassandra Wayne. The two train, definitely harder than Steph ever trained Nell and maybe harder than Cass ever trained Steph. She doesn't want what happened to Stephanie twice to ever come close to anything that happens to her protege.

* * *

There's a quiet acceptance throughout the family, as if they knew that Stephanie was going to die on the job. Cassandra hates it.

She visits the Clock Tower and Barbara's body language as she talks about Stephanie says nothing but  _ I told you that this would happen _ .

Tim's says  _ This is why I told her to retire _ .

Damian seems to be the only one who's sad, which is a first for Cass.

* * *

"I have a daughter," Dick confesses to Cass one day. "I have a daughter with Starfire, one she never told me about. But I found her. Her name is Mar'i and she's perfect. Ever since I found her, I thought about retiring." Dick runs his hands through his hair. "I was gonna ask Stephanie to be Nightwing." He looks at Cass. "Do you think she would have said yes?"

Cass doesn't answer.

* * *

Cass visits Stephanie's grave.

It's the same grave as when she died the first time around. Gotham never bothered to tear it down when she came back and when she died again, they simply unearthed the empty casket and put her in.

Cass sits down in front of the gravestone, a single rose in her hand. She says nothing.

After a while - Cass doesn't know how much time has passed - a man with brown hair sits down next to her. Cass doesn't recognize him, but he appears to be related to Steph.

"She was my niece," he tells her. "I loved her, like I loved my son."

"Friends," Cass says. "We… helped each other. Helped each other be better."

The two sit in silence for the remainder of their visit, until Cass gets a call from Tim asking for her help. She gets up and the man follows her footsteps.

"Chuck," the brown haired man introduces himself, his hand extended for a handshake. Cass stares for a moment before taking his hand and shaking it.

"Cass." She leaves the grave, the rose left behind.

* * *

_ "Help!" cries out Stephanie. Her Batgirl cowl has been torn off her head and her body is covered in scratches and scars. _

_ "Now, now," taunts Black Mask. "Don't ruin the fun now. We're just getting started." _

_ "Do your worst," she snarls. Black Mask holds a drill to her face and… _

_ Cass flies through a window and kicks Black Mask in the jaw, breaking it. _

_ "You saved me," Stephanie says in awe. _

_ The scenery shifts and Stephanie is in a hospital bed. Cass is talking with Leslie Thompkins, occasionally glancing at Batgirl. _

_ "She'll have a few more scars from her encounter, but she'll be ok," Dr. Thompkins informs her. Cass nods and runs to Stephanie. _

_ "Thank you, Cass," she says, pulling the other girl into a hug. "Thank you for saving me." Cass pulls back after a while and… _

_ Stephanie is pale. Her mouth is missing more than a few teeth and blood is leaking out of it. Her eyes look bloodshot and her wounds have multiplied. _

_ "Why didn't you save me?" Her voice has turned gravely. "You could have saved me." _

Cass rockets out of bed, tears already pouring out of her eyes. She huddles up in a corner, trying desperately to stop crying.

_ Why couldn't she be saved? _

Tim bursts through the room a few seconds later and he envelops Cass into a hug.

"It'll be ok, Cass," he tells her, but they both know it's a lie. Nothing will be ok again.

* * *

"Harder," Cass commands. Nell punches the bag of sand with all her might, but it's not good enough. Cass grimaces, but her expression turns soft. "Try again. Take your time."

"Ok!" she sings cheerfully.

A shot of pain pierces Cass's chest. Nell's willpower and determination are painful reminders of Stephanie. Not to mention the suit, the name Spoiler.

Cass is far from Nell's only trainer. Tim had already been training her on detective work, but the Birds of Prey aid them both on either subject, as well as other things they might miss.

Nell's fist collides with the sandbag again, moving it slightly. There's a brief expression of pain, but it's quickly masked by her ever-present smile.

* * *

Bruce slips up and calls Cass Batgirl during a debrief in the cave, the first time anyone in the family has since she left for Hong Kong. Cass shoots him a glare.

"Not Batgirl!" she yells. "Not Batgirl!" Bruce's eyes widen under his cowl.

"Cass, I…"

"Steph was Batgirl! Not me! Not anymore!"

"Cass, calm down, it was just a mistake." Dick tries to calm her down, but she shrugs him off.

"Black Bat! Not Batgirl!" She storms off, out of the cave, not bothering to listen to Bruce telling her to come back.

Cass finds herself on the roof. She sits down at the edge, her legs clutched in her arms, held close to her chest. She cries again, sobs escaping her mouth. She hates crying. She hates missing Stephanie. And she hates Bruce for not saving her, for calling her Batgirl.

She knows he didn't mean to. She knows that he's had more experience with her as Batgirl than he ever did with her as Black Bat. He had worked with her for 3 years as Batgirl, but she had only been back to Gotham from Hong Kong for 2 months. But she can't help but hate him a little.

* * *

Cass hears the rocket fly towards her and she maneuvers out of the way. But it's too close, far too close, and she goes flying into a solid brick wall.

Cass's eyes fly open and a weird, but all too familiar feeling surrounds her. She moves her body and everything feels warped, like she's swimming through air.

"Hello, Cass," she hears behind her. Cass turns around and her breath hitches in her chest.

Stephanie Brown stands in front of her. She wears her Batgirl uniform, but with the cowl pulled down, similar to her nightmare. But there's no blood, no scars.

"Long time, no see, huh?" she asks. Cass smiles and runs to Stephanie, squeezing her into a hug.

"I missed you," Cass confesses.

"Well, you're gonna have to miss me for longer."

"Why?" she demands.

"It's not your time yet, Cass. It won't be for a long time. I'm sorry." Cass feels tears run down her face.

"Not fair."

"Life is never fair, Cass." Her mouth briefly twists into a frown before her smile is back. "But it's up to you to make it fair. To save as many people as you can."

"When… when will I see you again?"

"I don't know. But the time will come." Stephanie cups Cass's face in her hands.

"Steph…" Whatever she was going to say is interrupted with a kiss. Cass's eyes widen before she closes them, allowing herself to be lost in the kiss. Eventually, Stephanie pulls away and Cass finds herself longing for another.

"It's time to go, Cass." Cass wants to argue, to stay, but she knows she has to leave now. So she swallows her hurt and nods. "Until we meet again."

Cass lets herself be swallowed by a bright light, the faint sound of her family's relief at her survival growing louder in her ears.


End file.
